Red Status of Tomatoes; Price Increase to Ten Thousand Tomans

The vote of no confidence from the ninth parliament against Fakhruddin Danesh Ashteyani, the fourth proposed minister of science, has received widespread coverage in the Iranian newspaper on Wednesday. The Iran newspaper published an editorial titled 'Messages and Consequences of the Vote of No Confidence,' stating: 'Monitoring the parliament's positions against the Ministry of Science indicates that the moderate government and the principlist parliament are facing serious challenges in this area.' The newspaper also wrote: 'Four votes of no confidence and the prevention of introducing two candidates preferred by the government for a ministry during the short lifespan of the eleventh government by the ninth parliament is evidence that some representatives have utilized all their legal tools and powers against the government,' and now 'for a long time, some have been banging this drum that if the government introduces 10 to 20 other candidates, the soup will be the same and the bowl will be the same.' The Aftab Yazd newspaper, in a report titled 'A Repetitive Film Show in Parliament,' wrote: 'The only new move' by the principlist representatives in the vote of confidence for the fourth proposed minister of science 'was lip-reading from a silent film that had not happened before, which also took shape in the ninth parliament, and the only thing that was not mentioned was science, technology, and the university.' The Kayhan newspaper, in one of its main headlines on the front page, referred to 'the negative vote of 171 representatives for the proposed minister of science,' calling the 'continuation of uncertainty in the Ministry of Science' a result of 'the government's insistence on extremist options.' This newspaper pointed out that the eleventh government 'has failed to fulfill part of its promises, especially in the economy and employment,' writing: 'The shadow dwellers, by introducing candidates whom they are confident will receive votes of no confidence from representatives, present a false image of the parliament's confrontation with the government and attribute their failures and shortcomings to the parliament's sabotage.' The Ebtekar newspaper, in its front page titled 'The World Awaits December 3,' wrote: 'Once again negotiations and once again Vienna, but this time it may be the last gathering of diplomats for Iran's nuclear file. Therefore, experts, considering the five days remaining until the final deadline of the Geneva agreement, are particularly sensitive to this round of talks.' According to this newspaper, 'Although speculations suggest the possibility of another extension, Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran's foreign minister, expressed hope upon his arrival in Vienna that December 3 would be a day of national victory in achieving our goals.' The Javan newspaper published statements by the commander of the IRGC regarding nuclear negotiations, quoting Mohammad Ali Jafari as saying: 'Today, apparently, and perhaps due to the political naivety of negotiators at times, our dignity may be harmed, but let us know that in reality, it is our enemy, namely America, that is seeking a nuclear agreement with humiliation.' Meanwhile, the Resalat newspaper reported that Ali Shamkhani, the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of the Islamic Republic, said in an interview with Al-Mayadeen network: 'Sanctions must be lifted; otherwise, a negotiation that does not end this issue will clearly be a futile and fruitless negotiation.' The Vatan-e-Emruz newspaper, in its front page titled 'Red Status of Tomatoes,' reported on the unprecedented rise in tomato prices, stating: 'The price of tomatoes has reached 10,000 tomans in some cities.' The Khabar-e-Kasb-o-Kar newspaper reported doubts about the announced statistics regarding the arrival of foreign tourists in Iran and the ignorance of experts about the occupancy of accommodation centers, stating that contrary to the claims of the head of the Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization, 'there is no news of hotel reservations.' The Teadval newspaper, in its Thursday issue, published a report on 'the first official image of Iran's economy this year,' examining 'the Central Bank's report on economic indicators in the first three months of 1393,' mentioning 'an 18 trillion tomans budget deficit of the government.' Alireza Zali, the head of the Medical System Organization, in an interview with the Arman newspaper, confirmed the prevalence of kidney transplants of Iranian citizens to foreign nationals in recent years, stating: 'Selling kidneys to foreigners is insulting.' The ongoing challenge between the moderate government and the principlist parliament over the Ministry of Science continues. The Iran newspaper, in a report titled 'Parliament Did Not Grant Confidence to Danesh,' wrote about the opposition of principlists in the ninth parliament to the fourth proposed minister of science by Hassan Rouhani: 'On Tuesday, the review of the programs and qualifications of Fakhruddin Danesh Ashteyani, the proposed minister of science, was on the agenda of the parliament, and despite the announced support of the academic community for him, most parliament representatives did not grant him confidence.' According to this newspaper, 'Tuesday's parliament session was almost similar to the confidence vote for Mahmoud Nili Ahmadabadi, the previous proposed minister; both ceremonies were overshadowed by politics, and in this regard, the only issue that was not addressed was the programs, records, and qualifications of the proposed ministers for managing the Ministry of Science.' Ebrahim Beheshti, in a report for the Etemad newspaper, noted that 'the main and perhaps the only axis of opposition from opponents was linking the events after the 2009 presidential election to Danesh Ashteyani,' recalling that 'this same scheme was repeated for Jaafar Mili Monfared, the first proposed minister, and Mahmoud Nili Ahmadabadi, and in the same vein, a two-minute film was shown in the Tuesday session, which Alireza Zakani, one of the representatives opposing the proposed minister, said that Danesh Ashteyani participated in the professors' sit-in at Amir Kabir University and was present among students who chanted slogans. This silent film, of course, like similar cases, was edited and seemed to be part of another film, and it was unclear whether the sit-in in question was related to before June 29, 2009, and the speech of the Supreme Leader or after that. The Iran newspaper also wrote: 'In addition to Alireza Zakani, Tehran's representative, Qasem Jafari, the representative of Bojnourd, and Hossein Naqavi, the representative of Varamin, also spoke against the proposed minister, all three of whom were opponents of previous proposed ministers and were among the designers of the impeachment of Dr. Faraji Dana.' Hassan Vazini, in an editorial for the Iran newspaper about 'the messages and consequences of the vote of no confidence,' wrote: 'Monitoring the parliament's positions against the Ministry of Science indicates that the moderate government and the principlist parliament are facing serious challenges in this area. This challenge, however, does not mean that the two main institutions of the country are stubbornly opposed to each other, but it means that the perspectives of the two institutions in this area are different from each other. In fact, what reflects the reason for the insistence of the parliamentarians on not approving the proposed ministers of the government stems from the differences in strategies and programs of the government with the parliament.' The editorial writer of the Iran newspaper emphasized that 'the government has serious plans in the university sector, which is the center and hub of the country's elite,' stressing that 'the university cannot set aside its scientific nature and reduce its status to superficial slogans. It cannot adopt an unscientific and perhaps security-oriented approach against millions of students, thousands of professors, and hundreds of scientific institutions and references.' For this reason, 'one of the government's programs is to rebuild and revive the position of the university and elites in the country, which has been severely damaged. If the issue of scholarships in recent months has become a costly matter for the government, its roots lie in this issue.' The Iran newspaper also wrote: 'The main and real issue is that part of the ninth parliament cannot tolerate the moderate government's perspective on the university. Perhaps a limited number of representatives known for their extremism want this institution to be a factory for producing their mental inclinations, even at the cost of diminishing the status of science and the exit of elites from the scientific life cycle.' The editorial writer of this newspaper pointed out that 'four votes of no confidence and the prevention of introducing two candidates preferred by the government for a ministry during the short lifespan of the eleventh government by the ninth parliament is evidence that some representatives have utilized all their legal tools and powers against the government,' writing: 'For a long time, some have been banging this drum that if the government introduces 10 to 20 other candidates, the soup will be the same and the bowl will be the same.' The Iran newspaper has critically examined this approach from the majority of the principlist ninth parliament, writing: 'How can the government ignore its heavy duty towards society, while their message in the previous elections has been completely clear? Essentially, which of the promises has the government retreated from that it would ignore this section of society's demands?' A repetitive film show in parliament; lip-reading from a silent film to reject the proposed minister of science. The Aftab Yazd newspaper, in a report titled 'A Repetitive Film Show in Parliament,' wrote: 'The fourth proposed minister of science, research, and technology also did not receive a vote of confidence from the principlist parliament; a news that perhaps no one is surprised by anymore. This time, not only was the message of 'no' from the parliamentarians to the people not particularly new, but there was also no new argument from the hardliners to attack the government.' According to this newspaper, 'Even the scenarios against the proposed men of Rouhani to the parliament have lost any color of creativity; a few-second clip has become the representatives' material for challenging the government; the same images that have been repeatedly shown in all impeachments and votes of confidence for the proposed ministers of science in the parliament.' Milad Pour Eisi, in a report for the Aftab Yazd newspaper, emphasized that 'the only new move' by the principlist representatives in the vote of confidence for the fourth proposed minister of science 'was lip-reading from a silent film that had not happened before, which also took shape in the ninth parliament, and the only thing that was not mentioned was science, technology, and the university.' According to this newspaper, on Tuesday, in the open session of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, 'the film of the sit-in at Tehran University was shown again from the parliament's monitor, and Alireza Zakani's explanations were silent, which added a specific creativity to that part,' as this principlist representative said: 'The film shows that Danesh Ashteyani is talking to two people,' one of whom is one of the detainees during the sedition, and the other is Salehi, the head of the University of Science and Industry, who after talking to Danesh Ashteyani stood up and said we professors not only have protests but must also strive to mobilize other professors in the country to protest.' Aftab Yazd wrote: 'For journalists and even representatives supporting Danesh Ashteyani, the question remained as to why this content-rich film is shown silently, forcing the opposing representative to report it moment by moment.' This newspaper also reported on the showing of the film 'Sit-in of University Professors at Amir Kabir University' in protest of the June 26, 2009 attack on the university dormitory in the parliament, writing: 'Every time Rouhani introduces someone for managing the science and research apparatus to the people, the representatives take the film out of the closet, dust it off, and with a simple technique, they highlight the new person as the leader of the professors' sit-in at Amir Kabir University by drawing a red pen around his image, and thus each time, a single sit-in in a single historical date takes on countless leaders and designers.' Each time, 'it seems that the only main actors in the repetitive story of the parliament are the same, who take on new names each time; from Jaafar Mili Monfared to Reza Faraji Dana and most recently Fakhruddin Danesh Ashteyani, the characters created by the parliamentarians, and each time, it seems that a fixed attribute is attributed to another person: accompanying the sedition and even leading the sedition.' According to this newspaper, in the vote of confidence for Fakhruddin Danesh Ashteyani, the fourth proposed minister by Hassan Rouhani, the same film was shown, while 'the whole story of this 'action' contains scenes from the mosque of Amir Kabir University, where a number of university professors protested against the June 25, 2009 attack on the dormitory of Tehran University; the incident of the nighttime attack on the university dormitory in 2009 has been severely criticized by the Supreme Leader.' Aftab Yazd wrote: 'The final puzzle of leaving the Ministry of Science without a minister is once again being completed with the same dusty clip,' and Alireza Zakani 'to deliver the final blow, added a new topic to the untouched previous scenario,' speaking of 'Danesh Ashteyani's membership in the founding board of the Participation Party,' and despite Danesh Ashteyani's insistence on proving the fabricated nature of this case, it did not affect the parliament, which 'sent the fourth proposed minister home with a film.' The Kayhan newspaper, in one of its main headlines on the front page, referred to 'the negative vote of 171 representatives for the proposed minister of science,' calling the 'continuation of uncertainty in the Ministry of Science' a result of 'the government's insistence on extremist options.' This newspaper emphasized that 'the government has shown indifference to the clear and explicit red lines of the representatives for various reasons and proposes similar options from a specific and extremist spectrum that do not find any fate other than a vote of no confidence in the parliament.' Kayhan also wrote: 'The continuation of this trend not only increases costs and ultimately does not lead to the parliament's surrender but has also had the opposite effect, and the increase in the number of representatives opposing the proposed minister in yesterday's parliament session clearly indicates this.' Hussein Shariatmadari, the representative of the Supreme Leader in Kayhan, in an editorial titled 'Confidence in No Confidence,' wrote: 'Some shadowy advisors to the respected President propose candidates for the Ministry of Science to the parliament who are fully assured of the representatives' no-confidence votes against them.' The editorial writer of Kayhan emphasized that 'some government officials, chain newspapers, and seditionists, in coordination with foreign media, are under the illusion that the parliament is at odds with the government.'